


Seer

by CrayonWrites



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Light Angst, if you were hoping for something uplifting i'm afraid this isn't where to find it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 03:04:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16109462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrayonWrites/pseuds/CrayonWrites
Summary: Indrid Cold never really wanted to be the Court Seer.





	Seer

Indrid Cold is a sweet child. Full of smiles and giggles. His mother’s pride and joy. When he turns six, he is playing with his toys on the living room floor. A tower of building blocks beside him begins to teeter, and though his back is turned and he doesn’t see it, he sees it in his mind, and he moves before the tower topples over onto the spot he was sitting. He rushes to his mother, telling her how he saw the tower fall in his mind, he saw it happen before it did, he _saw_ it. Sylvan power.

 

His mother tells him not to tell anyone. Keep it their little secret. She has heard enough stories of parents losing connection with their children after the courts heard of a gift they desired in their ranks. Visions of the future would surely be on the top of their list.

 

When Indrid is 11, a child in the neighborhood pushes him down as he is playing outside. The child laughs and jeers, yelling insults that would stab Indrid for years. 

 

“You’re so useless,” he says. “What kind of Sylph doesn’t have any power?”

 

Indrid frowns. He’s tired of being told this. Being told he’s useless. “I  _ do _ have magic,” Indrid says, quietly, remembering his promise to his mother.

 

“What’s that, antennae-head?” The child asks with a sneer.

 

“I  _ do _ have power,” Indrid says, louder, glaring at the bully.

 

“Really? Prove it.”

 

_ Prove it. _

 

Indrid can’t just “prove it.” He has no control of his visions. They come at random times, to warn him of incoming danger or good news. 

 

“Well?”

 

Indrid stares at his feet. The child kicks his leg, and tears begin to well in Indrid’s eyes.

 

“I can’t. It doesn’t work like that.”

 

“I knew you were lying.”

 

“I’m not lying!” Indrid shouts, standing up quickly, using his wings to propel himself. “I’m not a liar!”

 

A few kids have gathered now at the sound of shouting.

 

“Then  _ do _ something!”

 

Indrid wipes his tears away on his arm. He closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath.  _ Please _ , he thinks.  _ Something. Give me something. _

 

A headache. Indrid scrunches his eyes, twisted with the sudden pain. But it passes and what is left is a vision. Another Sylph child, running quickly down the sidewalk, about to run right into Indrid.

 

Indrid sidesteps.

 

The child runs past him, yelping as her body hits the bully, knocking them both over.

 

Indrid opens his eyes. The other children are staring at him, some in awe, some in horror. The bully is glaring at him.

 

“What did you  _ do _ ?” He spits.

 

Indrid frowns. “I saw it before it happened. I saw her running in my head, and so I stepped out of the way.”

 

There are gasps from the other children. The bully’s face is pale.

 

After that, things happen fast. Too fast for him to quite remember it all. He remembers his mother’s face, twisted with tears as she holds his small hands in hers for the last time. He remembers the awful, itchy uniforms they make him wear. He remembers taking a pair of scissors from his dormitory and enlarging the holes in the back for his wings to be able to move around more. He remembers being reprimanded for tampering with his uniform.

 

He remembers the first time they put the blindfold on him. They tell him not to focus anymore on what he sees in the present, but more on what he sees in the future. That this is the only way for him to truly harness his power. He remembers them telling him to wear it always, and he remembers taking it off every time he gets back to his dormitory at the end of the day.

 

He doesn’t like the blindfold. He likes to see the future  _ and _ the present. He doesn’t like the cold uniforms. He likes the warm clothes his mother would sew that fit him perfectly and never restricted his wings. He doesn’t like the school, or the dormitory, or the books. He likes his mother, and his home, and his toys.

 

He is a young adult now. It is his first day acting as the official Court Seer of Sylvain. They’ve given him a blindfold decorated with jewels and tassels.  _ How festive _ , he thinks with disdain. His robes are tailored to fit him exactly, and he doesn’t feel constricted, but he doesn’t feel comfortable. It doesn’t feel like him.

 

Long school education is not usual for Sylphs. A handful of years to learn basics about Sylvain and such. Then it’s over. But Indrid has just gotten out of a special university, which he attended for a good decade. And now they are putting him to work. For a moment, he remembers his mother. He wonders if she is here, outside, to see him when they open the curtains to announce their new Court Seer.

 

When the curtains open, he can faintly see the light peeking through the blindfold. He doesn’t listen to the speech. He doesn’t listen to the crowd. He tries so hard to see in his mind. He sees the crowd, mere seconds in the future. He scans it for his mother. There are so many faces. He scans for antennae like his, tall and feathery and black. He scans for her rose colored eyes.

 

She isn’t there.

 

The crowd cheers again as the speaker says one last thing, and Indrid knows what he is expected, and he smiles, wide. Very, very wide.

 

When it is over, a woman on the court before him Janelle, speaks to him.

 

“ **Everything went well** , but your smile was… a tad unnerving  **there at the end** .”

 

Indrid raises his eyebrows.  _ What does she look like?  _ He wonders. He sees her reach her hand out to shake his.

 

“Sorry about that.” He says, reaching his hand out when she does and shaking it. “I am not the best at public appearances.”

 

Janelle chuckles. “Don’t worry, you won’t need to.”

 

“I was hoping my mother would make it today,” Indrid says, trying to distance any emotion from his voice.

 

Janelle sighs. “I’m sorry to hear that she couldn’t. But we are very happy to have you in the court.”

 

Indrid nods, wishing above all things he could take the damned blindfold off, but he keeps it on in front of the others. “It will be an honor to serve for the court.”


End file.
